Casting wheel welded steel hub

ABSTRACT

In an improved casting wheel, for copper shapes such as anodes, wire bars, ingots, cakes, etc., particularly, which consists of arms, supporting molds at their outer extremities, the arms being hung from a central hub formed on a supporting bed and driven by drive mechanism on the central bed, the improvement comprising a novel form of hub characterized by its being of a box beam construction with internal bulkheads and external means for engaging arms and supporting them, and internal gear, to be driven by the drive mechanism, the whole being supported on an antifriction bearing in the central support mechanism.

I Umted States Patent 1 [111 3,744,553

Lesk 1 Jul 10 1973 [54] CASTING WHEEL WELDED STEEL HUB 3,659,644 5/1972 De Bie 164/326 Inventor: Norman Lesk Mamamneck, N.Y 3,682,232 8/1972 Bouyt 164/326 [7 3] Assignee: Treadwell Corporation, New York, Primary Ex minerJ. Spencer Overholser N.Y. Assistant Examiner-John E. Roe'thel [22] Filed: Feb. 1972 Attorney-Thomas B. Graham [21] Appl. No.: 227,200 [57] ABSTRACT In an improved casting wheel, for copper shapes such [52] U S CL 164/326 141/268 198,209 as anodes, wire bars, ingots, cakes, etc., particularly, [51] Bzzd 5/02 which consists of arms, supporting molds at their outer [58] Field 01' 51115111111111.ZIZZZZIITiZ/i'ib 325 326 exremities the arms being hung fmm central hub 164/327, 328; 141/268, 283; 198/209 ormed on a supporting bed and driven by drive mechamsm on the central bed, the improvement comprising 56] References Cited a novel form of hub characterized by its being of a box beam construction with internal bulkheads and exter- UNITED, STATES PATENTS nal means for engaging arms and supporting them, and 1,833,417 11/ 1931 Drake 198/209 i l gear, to b d i by h drive mechanism, the 2212 :21 :53 whole being supported on an antifrictionbearing in the 214121040 12/1946 Gall et a1. 164/326 central SUPP mechamsm' 3,470,941 10/1969 Thompson 164/326 X 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures CASTING WHEEL WELDED STEEL HUB BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the refining of copper the stage at which the hot metallurgical operation is completed is characterized by the presence at or near the pouring ladle of a casting machine for copper anodes, the machine consisting of a large wheel formed of supporting arms, which in turn support the molds for the anodes. A typical wheel is 20-50 feet in diameter, the arms being constructed of support members mounted cantilever style on a cast steel hub. In the conventional form, the cast hub runs on tapered roller bearings so that individual molds can be periodically indexed into position at the ladle for an anode pour. It is conventional to employ the heavy arms and, particularly, the heavy cast steel hub to provide the whole mechanism with an appropriate degree of rigidity. That is, the individual anode molds will weigh approximately 8l0,000 pounds. The typical wheel may have as many as 26 molds for casting anodes. Since approximately 20 of these molds will have copper in them in various stages of congealing, the total load carried by the hub will be of the order of 500,000 pounds. Hence, it is quite apparent that the prior art has stayed with extremely heavy cast hubs, tapered roll bearings, and heavy bearing races to carry loads of this size without developing significant deflection of parts. The seriousness of any deflection should be apparent from the fact that the anodes are cast flat and since a few of them in the first few positions away from pouring position carry molten copper, the mechanism must move smoothly and level, because any tendency to jar or vibrate can result in the formation of reject anodes.

Hence, it is a basic object of this invention to provide a construction of hub for casting wheel which is a departure from the cast steel and provides rigidity comparable to or better than is obtainable with the cast steel.

It is another object of the invention to provide a fabricated steel, box-beam style of travelling ring, for the hub of a casting wheel which provides for positive pivotal engagement of the mold supporting arm and the leveling of the extensions or the supports for the molds at the extremities of the arms.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a structure of bearing which is an antifriction bearing of the ball-type suitable for taking the thrust and bearing loads in the operation of the device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention, accordingly, is embodied in an improvedlform of hub in the combination which constitutes a wheel-type casting machine, wherein the hub is mounted on a track ring which carries antifriction bearings, supporting a travellingringformed as a torsion box, or box beam, internally compartmentalized to give it the necessary resistance to torsion, the beam carrying lugs to which the arms for supporting the molds can be pinned, the whole being mounted around a central drive mechanism, which comprises a drive motor, appropriate brake, gear reducer, and drive pinion, engaging an internal gear supported in the travelling ring, thereby to provide the improved combination for use in the casting wheel, which wheel is characterized by the improved hub formed of the travelling ring of box beam construction. Other details of controlsfor the drive mechanism and devices for removing castings from molds and various metering and indexing apparatus form no part of this combination and, accordingly, are not shown.

The invention thus is in the improved hub consisting of the features of construction and combinations of elements constituting the hub, its mount, and its manner of being connected to the drive.

Referring to the drawings, from which a detailed understanding of the invention can be derived, FIG. 1, is a plan view of a casting wheel fabricated in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2, is a diametrical section through the wheel of FIG. 1 on the line 2--2, showing the relationship of parts in side elevation.

FIG. 3, is a plan view, partial, of the track for the travelling ring;

FIG. 4, is a section on the line 4-4 showing the construction of the track for the travelling ring; and,

FIG.,5, is a plan view, partially in section, of the travelling ring;

FIG. 6, is a partial section of the travelling ring taken at line 66 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7, is a view of the arm support bracket for the travelling ring.

FIG. 8 is an alternative form of arm support for the travelling ring.

Referring to FIG. 1, 10 refers generally to the casting wheel which consists of the sequence of arms, 11, 12, 13, 14, l5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,, 30, supporting the anode molds 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 51, from the hub or travelling ring: 60, carrying internal gear 62, which is engaged by drive pinion 63, which is driven through gear reducer 64, connected through appropriate support members and shafts to electric drive motor 65. This power mechanism consisting of the drive motor and supports is mounted on base 70, centrally located in the pit for the casting wheel. Base is anchored to concrete pedestal 71 which in turn is slightly above the bottom 72 of the pit for the machine.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the form of the mechanism will be more clearly understood by observing therein that the hub consists of the mechanism of a first track ring 80, formed of a base plate or ring 81, joined by a circular member 82, upstanding therefrom, to which is integrally joined a circular bearing member 83, supporting part of the antifriction bearing 84, shown with balls 85, and race 86.

This is the point of engagement or transfer of the load, weight and thrust, of the hub and arms of the casting wheel to the base of the mechanism. The hub 60, consists of a circular unit or travelling ring as shown in plan view of FIG. 1 with a box beam section as shown in FIG. 2. Thesides of the travelling ring 60 consist of circular members 90, 91, integrally joined to top member 92, and bottom member 93, to form the circular box, or the torus of rectangular cross section. Within the circular member 90, integrally joined thereto is the L shaped gear support 94, with the ledge 95, extending inwardly to receive and support the gear 62. The gear 62 can be bolted into place using bolts in the valleys between teeth or it can be stitch welded around the internal circumference of support 94 'to hold it accurately in place.

To support the travelling ring in position there is mounted by integral joining on the bottom thereof the circular L shaped member 100, carrying the race section 86, of the antifriction bearing. The ball and race member thus form an essentially conventional style ball bearing, but some 12 feet in diameter, in a conventional size wheel, make possible by virtue of this structure to take the load and thrust of the construction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electric motor is connected to a drive gear reducer 64, which carries the pinion and drive gear 63, which engages the internal gear 62.

Further details and construction of the torsion travelling ring can be seen in FIG. 6, wherein to provide improved rigidity and a support for the entire mechanism to be seen from FIGS. 3 and 4, that the basic structure of the track ring 80, consists of plate 81, welded to vertical 82, carrying ring 83, with openings provided for pinning the structure to the base 71.

Holes 120, in ring 83, provide means for fastening the structure to the track 80. Gussets 82 are spaced at intervals approximately 9 apart between plates 81, and 83 to provide support for the structure.

In a similar fashion, bulkheads or plates 60', 60", etc. are integrally mounted within the box beam 60 at approximately 36 intervals around the circumference, the bulkheads being arranged radially, as shown in FIG. 5.

For supporting the mold arms from the ring 60, it will be observed from the section in FIG. 2, that the mold arm 150, formed as a structural member cantilevered essentially, as shown, supports mold 32, and its inward extremity is formed with a lug 151, having a hole 152, to provide for the lug being inserted between a pair of brackets 154, 155, (FIG. 7) the brackets having holes aligned with 152 to allow for pinning the arm in place with pin 156. That is, the arm is pivotally mounted. At the bearing comer of the arm, a point which could be called the elbow, indicated as 157 in FIG. 2, shims can be inserted to alter the level of the arm extremity to bring it precisely to the desired level.

FIG. 6 is useful for showing the manner in which the parts are joined together. In FIG. 6 the elements of the travelling ring, namely, the inner circular piece 90, the outer circular piece 91, the top 92, of the beam and the bottom piece 93 are shown in section. In view of the fact that the box beam travelling ring structure is so large, and also has bulkheads welded in place in the interior section, the sequence of steps in assembly should follow a preferred pattern in order to develop the structure. Thus, the method of assembly consists of first, placing the top 92 plate on a work surface and integrally joining the outer ring 91 thereto, (or the inner ring 90) in the process forming the heavy groove and fillet weld 92' around the circular periphery of the piece. The next piece to be welded into place is the inside ring 90, (or the outer ring 91) employing the heavy groove and fillet weld 93' around its periphery to hold it in place. At this point, the internal bulkhead plate P is fitted into place and a seam weld P formed around its edges where it meets the outer ring 91, the top 92, and the inside ring 90. Bottom place 93 is then set in place and fillet groove weld 93" is formed around the periphery.

At this point, the thus far assembled travelling ring formed of the inner and outer rings and the top with a sequence of plates P in place and bottom plate also in place, is turned over to the position shown in FIG. 6. Here, the heavy fillet and groove weld 93" is formed and the piece is complete.

It is to be observed that the plate is thus welded in place along its three sides, and the bottom edge actually need not be welded in place. Should it be desired to have it welded in place, access to form a bottom seam weld can be had through opening in the ring 90.

FIG. 8 shows an arm support which is the inverse of FIG. 7. 160, supported by brackets 161 and 162 is fastened to the top of ring 90. Hole 163 in plate will receive a pin. The arm to be pivoted is formed with a bifurcated end and pinned in place as indicated in FIG. 2.

In the assembly of objects, the size of the travellingring box-beam in this instance, it is to be observed that the handling of plates of the thickness and diameter specified a ring or the mass which this apparatus will handle involves the technology of handling the flat pieces, the bending of the plates 91, and 90 to the appropriate diameter. This is done on conventional bending machines and for the purpose pieces can be bent to complete circles and joined with a single seam, or the pieces for a complete circle can be formed by bending flat plate to certain arcuate form, for example, 90 of the circle, and assembling the entire unitary piece from form sections by means of vertical welds. The sequence of operations, described herein constitutes our pre ferred method of assembling the box beam structure together with the internal gusset plates.

From the inspection of the details of the single arm bracket bearing and mount section shown in FIG. 2, it will be apparent that this structure is repeated around the circumference of the hub as many times as there are arms in the casting wheel. The advantage of the upper pivot point and the lower shim-elbow accordingly are details of construction and in the additional arms are now shown. Also, in view of the fact that the particular details of the mount for the motor and nature of the gear reducer are no part of the invention, the form and location of these is merely indicated diagramatically and the ultimate precise form selected for operation is a matter for the particular installation.

Thus, it will be apparent that in this form of construction we have devised a means by which the advantages of a box beam and the resistance to torsion are built into the hub of a casting wheel by forming the box essentially as a torus having a rectangular section. In this form of construction, it becomes possible to fabricate a gear support which also can be welded into place. The basis of the structure, namely the track ring and the antifriction bearing also are fabricatable as welded sections. By avoiding the heavy castings which have been necessary to develop appropriate rigidity in this kind of structure, we have equalled or improved upon the rigidity of a cast hub and rendered the entire structure substantially lighter, thus rendering it more susceptible to control while also consuming less power than with conventional forms of construction. That is, in the geometry of the travelling ring, namely the toroidal box structure having the internal gussets, we have an improved hub which characterizes this casting wheel.

What is claimed is:

1. In a casting wheel comprising a plurality of radially arranged arms supporting molds from a central supporting hub, the molds being successively indexable into a pouring position and out of said pouring position and ultimately into a delivery position, the entire mechanism including a drive for the casting wheel, the improvement comprising a supporting hub for said arms,

said hub being formed as a torus of rectangular section having upper and lower and inner and outer faces and carrying on its upper face means for pivoting and supporting the arms of said wheel, and on the lower face thereof bearing means for taking the load of the weight thereof, and on the inner face thereof a gear for engaging a main drive gear.

2. In a casting wheel in accordance with claim 1, said torus being internally subdivided by radial gussets spaced at regular intervals around the circumference thereof.

3. In a casting wheel in accordance with claim 2, said travelling ring having integrally mounted on the upper face brackets suitable for pivotally engaging carrying arms of said ring.

porting hub, the molds being successively indexable into a pouring position and out of said pouring position and ultimately into a delivery position, the entire mechanism including the drive for the casting wheel, the improvement comprising a supporting hub for said arms fabricated as a torus of rectangular section having upper, lower, inner, and outer faces integrally joined at circumferential lines of contact between said faces, and carrying on its upper face a bracket means for pivotally engaging and supporting the arms of said wheel, and on the inner face, carrying a support integrally joined thereto to receive an internal drive gear for engagement with a main drive gear, and on the lower face thereof a bearing means for taking the load thereof through ball bearing mounted on a ring within the cen tral pit of said casting wheel. 

1. In a casting wheel comprising a plurality of radially arranged arms supporting molds from a central supporting hub, the molds being successively indexable into a pouring position and out of said pouring position and ultimately into a delivery position, the entire mechanism including a drive for the casting wheel, the improvement comprising a supporting hub for said arms, said hub being formed as a torus of rectangular section having upper and lower and inner and outer faces and carrying on its upper face means for pivoting and supporting the arms of said wheel, and on the lower face thereof bearing means for taking the load of the weight thereof, and on the inner face thereof a gear for engaging a main drive gear.
 2. In a casting wheel in accordance with claim 1, said torus being internally subdivided by radial gussets spaced at regular intervals around the circumference thereof.
 3. In a casting wheel in accordance with claim 2, said travelling ring having integrally mounted on the upper face brackets suitable for pivotally engaging carrying arms of said ring.
 4. In a casting wheel comprising a pluraliTy of radially arranged arms for supporting molds from a central supporting hub, the molds being successively indexable into a pouring position and out of said pouring position and ultimately into a delivery position, the entire mechanism including the drive for the casting wheel, the improvement comprising a supporting hub for said arms fabricated as a torus of rectangular section having upper, lower, inner, and outer faces integrally joined at circumferential lines of contact between said faces, and carrying on its upper face a bracket means for pivotally engaging and supporting the arms of said wheel, and on the inner face, carrying a support integrally joined thereto to receive an internal drive gear for engagement with a main drive gear, and on the lower face thereof a bearing means for taking the load thereof through ball bearing mounted on a ring within the central pit of said casting wheel. 